The Thrill of Playing Catch

When I was a kid, I was always amazed by big league outfielders who almost always caught a fly ball no matter how high it sailed. I never mastered that skill. In truth, I was always a bit afraid when a ball came at me during a softball or hardball game. No one ever taught me how to catch, and I was no natural.

Now, instead of focusing on big leaguers--whose skills still astound me--I'm spending time playing catch with my 7-year-old granddaughter. We started with a basketball, flipping it back and forth, just a few feet separating us. I noticed that she seemed a bit afraid of the ball, and would almost blink as it approached her. But after a while, her confidence grew. We then moved farther apart. Soon, she was routinely catching 10 in a row without dropping one.

Today, we switched to playing catch with a tennis ball. It's more of a challenge, giving the catcher a smaller target. I was surprised and delighted to see that my granddaughter's eye-hand coordination was vastly improved. She caught 20 balls without dropping, and some were off the mark (thanks to my limited throwing skills).

I am having so much more fun playing catch with this young woman--and seeing her rapid progress--than I ever did watching the more adept, really magnificent professionals. Not only that, my own ball-handling skills are finally improving!